Cross-eyed opossum Heidi gets Oscar tips partly right

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Heidi's Oscar predictions were proven (mostly) right at the Academy Awards show on Sunday night. While the famous cross-eyed opossum correctly tipped the winners for the Best Actor and Actress, she got the Best Film award wrong.

Last week on the US TV show “Jimmy Kimmel Live” the furry marsupial from the Leipzig Zoo had chosen British actor Colin Firth for for his role in “The King's Speech” and US actress Natalie Portman for her performance in “Black Swan.”

Both stars, who had been favourites to win, did indeed take home the coveted golden statuettes at the 83rd Academy Awards in Hollywood, but Heidi's tips for the Best Film category turned out to be false.

While Heidi had picked the mountaineering adventure “127 Hours” to win for Best Film, the Academy chose historical drama “The King's Speech” instead.

The film about King George VI's struggles with public speaking also won Best Production and Best Original Screenplay, while director Tom Hooper won Best Director.

Meanwhile the German Oscar nominees went home empty-handed.

Frankfurt-born composer Hans Zimmer was nominated for his music to thriller “Inception,” but the award went to Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross for “The Social Network.”

German animators Jakob Schuh and Max Lang were also nominated for their work on short film “The Gruffalo,” but the award went to “The Lost Thing,” by Shaun Tan and Andrew Ruhemann.

It's unclear whether Heidi's mixed record will help her sustain fame akin to Paul the Octopus, who from his tank at a northern German aquarium achieved global fame for correctly calling the outcome of matches in last year's football World Cup. Paul died from natural causes last October.

Heidi, who is believed to be two-and-a-half-years-old, was abandoned outside an animal shelter in North Carolina in the United States with her sister Naira, and has been living at Leipzig Zoo since May last year.

The zoo believes her eye condition might have been caused by her diet before she was abandoned, or by the fact that she is overweight and has fat deposits behind her eyes.